Rick Noriega was home from Afghanistan only a few weeks in early September when Houston Mayor Bill White asked him to transform the city's convention center into a temporary shelter.
The Texas state representative assembled a core staff of about 120 and over 1,000 volunteers, who, in the first week, provided refuge and services to over 22,000 individuals displaced by Hurricane Katrina, mostly from New Orleans.
"I’ve been just going so fast on adrenaline, coffee, and emotions."
Noriega relied on his experience in the Texas Army National Guard during a storm in the mid-90s and his role coordinating the security of airports and other potential targets after 9/11. More recently, he supervised the training of roughly 20,000 Afghan forces.
A fourth-generation Houstonian, whose great-grandmother crossed from Mexico with her young son in 1911, Noriega drew inspiration from the many local citizens who came forward to help.
"I had a big, elderly gentleman show up wearing a baseball cap and a short-sleeve Western shirt. He says, 'Put me to work.'"
The man, a local business leader it turned out, quickly organized a network of buses, taxis, and air shuttles, willingly missing a few days of chemotherapy in order to assist others in need.
